Kashmir devastated......

Preliminary Report on Kashmir earthquake ............ ( download pdf 2.5 Mb)

The 8th October 2005 Kashmir earthquake was a major seismic event of the Himalaya recording a magnitude of 7.6 on the Richter scale. The tremors were felt up to a distance of 1000 km from the epicentre and the damage extended in a radius of around 140 km............ more

 
A devastating earthquake occurred in the western Himalayas in the morning of 8 October 2005 at about 09.20 hrs IST. The epicentre was 125km WNW of Srinagar near Muzaffarabad in Pakistan occupied Kashmir. The earthquake has been widely felt in different parts of Northern India including Delhi. Nearly 20,000 people are feared dead in Pakistan, death toll in Jammu & Kashmir is reported to have crossed 600 with huge property loss.
Mainshock Epicentre and aftershock locations after USGS
     

Seismicity in the area

There has been a record of few earthquakes in the area. Earliest of these, is the Kashmir earthquake (M 7.0) of 30 May 1885, with epicenter (lat 34.12 long 74.61) at Jampur, 19.5km west of Srinagar. The event took about 3000 lives and caused damage around Srinagar. Later events were smaller in magnitude. That includes events of 14 Nov 1928 (lat 35.00 long 72.50; Ms 6.0); 7 Nov 1937 (lat 35.00 long 73.00; Ms 5.7); 28 Dec1974 (lat 35.05 long 72.91; Mb 5.9). The current quake is the biggest to strike the region in the past 100 years.

The entire Himalayan belt falls under seismic zone IV and V as per BIS code.
Earthquake parameters provided by different agencies

IMD Parameters

  • Origin time- 03hr 50m 35.8sec (UTC);
  • Epicenter- lat 34.6°N long 73.0°E; depth 33km
  • Magnitude 7.4
  • IMD has recorded 26 aftershocks (M ³ 5.0) on 08.10. 2005, 10 aftershocks on 09.10.2005 and 1 aftershock on 10.10.2005 (till 12.00 Noon) in the area around the epicentre;

GSI Parameters (Single station estimate from Jabalpur)

  • Origin time: 03hr 50m 56.3 sec (UTC)
  • lat 33.586°N long 73.474°E
  • Mb 7.3 Ms 6.8

GSI observatory (Jabalpur) recorded 15 aftershocks (>5) till 9.10.2005

GSI Parameters (Single station estimate from Nagpur)

  • Origin time: 03hr 50m 41.4 sec (UTC)
  • lat 34.0°N long 74.1°E
  • Ms 7.5

GSI observatory (Nagpur) recorded 33 aftershocks (>4.5) within 24 hours of the main shock
A temporary 3 station seismic network at Chandigarh registered 160 aftershocks till 1130 hrs of 10.10.2005

USGS Parameters (as on 9.10.2005)
Origin time- 03hr 50m 38sec (UTC); local time at epicenter- 08hr 50m 38sec
Epicenter- lat 34.402°N long 73.560°E
90 km NNE of Islamabad; 120 km (75 miles) WNW of Srinagar
Magnitude- 7.6
Depth- 10km
USGS Moment Tensor Solution
Origin time- 03:50:38.63
Epicenter: 34.432N 73.537E
Mw: 7.3
Depth: 20km
Principal axes:
T Val= 1.01 Plg= 57 Azm= 4; N 0.03 22 132; P -1.04 24 232
Best Double Couple: Mo=1.0x1020 Nm
NP1: Strike=358 Dip=29 Slip= 140; NP2: 124 72 67
Harvard (HRVD) Moment Tensor Solution
Origin time- 03:50:52.2
Epicenter: 34.37N 73.47E
Depth: 12.0 km (Fix)
Mw= 7.6
Principal axes:
T Val= 3.16; Plg= 69; Azm=338; N -0.44; 19; 128 P -2.71; 10; 222
Best Double Couple: Mo=2.9x1027 dyne.cm
NP1: Strike=333; Dip=39; Slip= 121; NP2: Strike=116; Dip=57; Slip= 68

Tectonic setting

The epicenter (instrumental) lies in the Kishanganga valley, a tributary of Jhelum River, in the Frontal Himalayan belt. The epicentral tract, bounded by MBT (8km in the east) and Jhelum fault (15km to the west) lies in the Jhelum re-entrant. The earthquake occurred in close proximity to the N-S trending left lateral Jhelum fault passing west of Muzaffarabad.

This fault separates the Kashmir basin in the east from the Peshawar basin in the west. Further north this fault joins the Main Mantle Thrust (MMT) where it is known as Shinkiari fault. Several instrumentally recorded earthquakes are known to be associated with the Jhelum fault but all are of lower magnitude, less than 6.0 (e.g., 1974, 1977). Considering the high magnitude of this event it is possible that the earthquake has originated at the junction of the detachment plane and the Jhelum fault.

Areas of Devastation 

Localities on either side of the Jhelum fault (Islamabad, Rawalpindi in the west; Muzaffarabad, Uri, Barmula, Srinagar in the east) have suffered extensive damage. Several thousand people have been killed in Pakistan and a few hundred in India. Media has reported that the main minaret of the Hazaratbal shrine was damaged. More than 80% of the houses in Uri and Handwara had either collapsed or suffered extensive damage. Uri is an important border town on the Srinagar- Muzaffarabad road where most buildings were flattened and dead and wounded trapped underneath. The road link between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad has been badly damaged due to quake induced landslides. Handwara was the second worst hit town followed by Poonch. One of the regions devastated by the earthquake is Tangdhar in northern Kashmir where close to 300 people are said to have died. Located close to the Line of Control, Tangdhar is only about 50km from Muzzafarabad, which is near the epicentre of the quake.

The earthquake was widely felt in Punjub, Chandigarh, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Rajasthan, Haryana and adjoining areas.
Photographs from URI sector, Kashmir: courtesy CNN

GSI - at site - in strength .......
A team of geologists from GSI, Jammu has left for field for on the spot study. A team from GSI, NR, Lucknow has left on 10.10.2005 for collecting macroseismic data. Localities around Rajauri, Punch, Uri, Baramula and Srinagar will be surveyed where the effect of the earthquake has been maximum. All the resident geologists in different hydel projects have been advised to collect relevant information / data. Apart from Jammu & Kashmir, teams of scientists have already been mobilized to record the effects of the earthquake in H.P., Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Uttaranchal and U.P. The team with digital seismographs deployed in Chandigarh for noise survey has been advised to shift 3 short period digital seismograph instruments to Kashmir and deploy them at the earliest in Uri, Baramula and Srinagar for recording aftershocks.

As per report received on 14.10.05 from the GSI team working around areas in Uri-Baramula, Salamabad, Kamalkot, Sultanitibba, Srinagar, Jammu and Rajauri-Poonch sector, almost all Type A structures suffered total collapse, while Type B structures faced very heavy damage. The entire survey area has been dotted with innumerable landslides. Long ground cracks are reported from RSpura near Jammu. Maximum intensity on the Indian side in the Uri-Baramula sector is IX on MSK scale. To constrain the lower intensity lines for attenuation study other GSI teams are working in Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Uttaranchal.

Preliminary Report on Kashmir Earthquake 8th October 2005

Photographs: devastation caused by Kashmir earthquake

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Last updated 21.10.2005